Re:Gender works to end gender inequity by exposing root causes and advancing research-informed action. Working with multiple sectors and disciplines, we are shaping a world that demands fairness across difference.

Big 5 Campaign

Politico: Despite attempts to position herself as "the women's candidate," a recent non-partisan poll shows that only 24 percent of registered voters believe that Sarah Palin is trustworthy on issues related to women’s health.

Editorial:

"Most American women don't trust Mama Grizzly on abortion, birth control and sex ed, a new poll obtained by POLITICO shows. The survey, conducted for Planned Parenthood by Democratic pollster Hart Research Associates, found that just 24 percent of registered voters choose Sarah Palin as trustworthy on women’s health issues, versus 54 percent who consider Planned Parenthood trustworthy.

Forty-three percent of all registered voters polled described Palin as “out of step” with their views on the issues; 31 percent say she is in line with their beliefs. The poll reached 802 voters split evenly across party lines in early November and has a margin of error of 3.5 percent."

In less than 48 hours, NCRW staff and interns have participated in not one but two conference calls from the National Women’s Law Center, each chock full of information we couldn’t wait to share! Yesterday, NWLC highlighted facts on women, insurance, and health reform. While the Affordable Care Act might not be a game changer, it is a big step forward. Judy Waxman, Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at NWLC, presented data on how women get health insurance now, what options to obtain health insurance have been created by the new legislation, and what those new health care plans are required to cover.

Last week in her Washington Post column, "The Color of Money," Michelle Singletary recommended Dr. Mariko's book Shortchanged: Why Women Have Less Wealth and What Can Be Done About It. Dr. Chang recently shared her findings and insights during our webinar, "Women and Economic Recovery: A Path Forward." As Chang discussed, women often do not have access to factors that contribute to wealth, such as fringe benefits. Women are overrepresented in part-time and low-wage jobs that do not offer fringe benefits such as health insurance and sick leave.

Women's Media Center, "AIDS Breakthrough for Women"Scientists, policy makers and activists alike celebrated the unveiling of a new antiretroviral gel at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna.Read more.

Center for Reproductive Rights: The Center for Reproductive Rights has filed Tummino v. Hamburg along with attorneys Andrea Costello of Florida Institutional Legal Services and Natalie Maxwell of Southern Legal Counsel on behalf of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP), National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, grassroots activists, and parents who seek over-the-counter access for their daughters. 'All of the scientific facts are there and FDA experts agree--emergency contraception has proven safe and effective to be sold over-the-counter to all ages," said Suzanne Novak, lead counsel in the case. "It's time for the FDA to stop the stonewalling, follow the science, and make emergency contraception available without a prescription to women of all ages.'"

Editorial:

"Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a motion for contempt against the Food and Drug Administration for failing to follow a court order regarding access to emergency contraception for women of all ages. On March 23, 2009, Judge Edward Korman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that the FDA's decision to limit over-the-counter access to the emergency contraception Plan B to women over 18 was based on politics rather than science. He ordered the agency to reconsider that decision.

'The FDA has had ample time, countless opportunities, and overwhelming scientific evidence put before it to make a decision on Plan B,' said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. 'The President promised that his administration would reverse the Bush policy of politics trumping science. But when it comes to emergency contraception, it's a new administration playing the same old games.'"

Feminist Majority Foundation: The Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked on Wednesday with a vote of 58-41. The Act would have amended the Equal Pay Act and allowed women to fight sex discrimination in wages. The Act was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last year.

Editorial:

On a vote of 58-41, with one Senator not voting, the Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked from coming to the Senate floor for an up or down vote this morning. The so-called moderate Republican Senators from New England - Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts - voted with their Republican colleagues, siding with big corporations against women's rights to fight sex discrimination in wages.

Chicago Tribune: Incidents of male student athletes committing acts of sexual or domestic violence are on the rise. Concerned, the NCAA is consulting with the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes and is considering a new gender violence policy that would encourage member institutions to discipline student-athletes accused of sexual assault. Schools that fail to do so would face sanctions.

Editorial:

"Inside NCAA President Mark Emmert's office in downtown Indianapolis on Wednesday, a meeting of the minds addressed one of college sports' biggest problems that has nothing to do with a football playoff. To his credit, Emmert opened his door to the idea of the NCAA adopting a gender-violence policy that would urge member institutions to take tougher action against student-athletes accused of sexual assault — or to take any action at all. It's a silent epidemic plaguing college athletic departments near and far.

'This is a very important issue and I'm sure university presidents will be interested in looking at this because it's worthy of debate,'' Emmert said in a phone interview after the meeting.

Wednesday's proposal in front of the new NCAA president came from Katherine Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, and Wendy Murphy, a nationally recognized legal expert in sexual violence. Armed with data showing an increase in crimes against women by athletes, Redmond and Murphy advocated NCAA sanctions against schools that fail to meet an acceptable level of response to sexual-assault and domestic-violence allegations."

Newsweek: The Transportation Safety Administration has implemented new screening policies, which include new technological scans and pat- down searches. Many survivors of assault find the pat-downs incredibly traumatic, and have extreme difficulty having their bodies touched by other people.

Editorial:

"Passengers have found a variety of reasons to object to the Transportation Safety Administration’s new screening policies, a combination of advanced-imaging technology scans and pat-down searches, which went into effect Oct. 29. Some see the full-body scans as a radiation risk. Some say the measures violate civil liberties, And for some, like John Tyner, a San Diego software engineer, the new screening measures represented something more immediately terrifying: the specter of sexual menace. Tyner is being investigated for an $11,000 fine after he walked away from a screening he considered “sexual assault."

Society for Research in Child Development: A new study published in Child Development shows that when teachers call attention to gender in preschool classrooms children are then more likely to express stereotyped views of boys and girls.

Editorial:

"In many preschool classrooms, gender is very noticeable—think of the greeting, "Good morning, boys and girls" or the instruction, "Girls line up on this side, boys on that." A new study has found that when teachers call attention to gender in these simple ways, children are more likely to express stereotyped views of what activities are appropriate for boys and girls, and which gender they prefer to play with.The study, by researchers at The Pennsylvania State University, is published in the November/December 2010 issue of Child Development.

Children in the classrooms in which teachers avoided characterizations by sex showed no change in responses or behaviors over the two weeks. However, children in the other classrooms showed increases in stereotyped attitudes and decreases in their interest in playing with children of the other sex. They also were observed to play less with children of the other sex.

The findings extend earlier research showing that classroom environments that make divisions by gender lead to increased stereotypes among elementary-school-aged children. By highlighting the powerful effect of classroom environments on preschool children's gender-related beliefs and behaviors, the findings have implications for how teachers structure classrooms and interact with children."

Colorlines: The number of people who are killed due to their sexual orientation or identity is overwhelming, but even more so, when you realize that the majority of them are people of color and transgender women.

Editorial:

"Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. As I wrote yesterday, at least 22 people were murdered in 2009 because of their sexual orientation. Four out of five of them were people of color and half were transgender women; the other half were overwhelmingly men who defied gender stereotypes, according to hate crime monitors. I argued in yesterday’s article that this violence is best understood as the most extreme example of a long list of dangers transgender women, particularly those of color, deal with everyday. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality point out a few of studies that provide more detail on that.

So the murders are grisly, but they are not isolated attacks. Our cultural fear of people who won’t follow rigid gender rules allows us to turn the other way while people are harassed, exploited and attacked routinely. Stop and think about that today, and then lets all start standing up against gender violence of all forms. And as I wrote yesterday, given the data, communities of color in particular need to come together to put this stuff to an end."